My biggest question is the bottom 6 in general, especially the 3rd line. With the losses of Cooke and Kennedy, I'm not sure how our 3rd line will come together, what role they'll play, and how they'll execute. I know Mikey has mentioned in some other threads the possibility of 3 offensive lines and 1 defensive/cycle line, so I'm curious to see how this shakes out.

My next question is what effect Jacques Martin will have on our defensive zone coverage and our defensive play in general.

The 3rd line is interesting to me. TK and Cooke were money with Staal, but not with Sutter. With those 2 gone, it gives Shero and the staff an attempt to build a 3rd line that works with Sutter as the center. Should be interesting how that turns out and who gels with Sutter as the season progresses.

The only way to properly write a preview for this team is the following: We'll let you know come Mid-April.

"The question being asked of me is about the playoffs next year, because I know what is going to happen during the regular season. That is something Marc-Andre is addressing this summer, addressing right now in his game, and going into this season that is not just something we're going to talk about and address in April. We're going through that right now with Marc and that's going to start -- it has already started -- and will continue into training camp and throughout the year."

Beveridge wrote:The 3rd line is interesting to me. TK and Cooke were money with Staal, but not with Sutter. With those 2 gone, it gives Shero and the staff an attempt to build a 3rd line that works with Sutter as the center. Should be interesting how that turns out and who gels with Sutter as the season progresses.

The only way to properly write a preview for this team is the following: We'll let you know come Mid-April.

I'd say Kennedy was much more negatively affected by the Staal-for-Sutter switch than Cooke was. Cooke managed to basically hit his status quo - 21 points in 48 games translates to about 35 points in 82 games, which is exactly where he's been almost his entire NHL career (30-40 points per season).

The whole 1st-2nd-3rd-4th line thing is a tad oversimplified, though expected from NHL.com. Sutter doesn't have to be "a 3rd line center," though he'll end up being labled that based on TOI. I say, have him out there at times with the likes of Bennett, Jokinen, Jeffrey, and D'Agostini (or a Kunitz once in a while) to try and generate some third tier offensive support...but more times than not, pair him up with Glass, Vitale, Adams, Payrel, etc... and get his butt out on the ice anytime the other team's top line is out there, regardless of the situation. He can work with both, but he excels at the latter...and we need the latter more than we probably realize.

Crankshaft wrote:If they're going with 3 lines of offense and a 4th line of defense, I wouldn't be opposed to having Jokinen center the 3rd line with Bennett on his wing and having Sutter center a defensive 4th unit.

That's kind of the idea...and I think Mikey was referring to this earlier in the summer.

Dan Bylsma wrote:It wasn't necessarily a lack of scoring chances or opportunities. We weren't able to solve the goaltender and we weren't able to score.

the sad thing is that i think he actually believes this.

The sad thing is how many people believe this along with him.

Yup, it's like Blysma is saying we got beaten by bad luck. Sure we had plenty of opportunities ...to rip the puck at Rask from above the circles, into a crowd of waiting Bruins with not a Pen in sight.

What does it to take to score? I hope he watched the finals and picked up a few pointers from the Hawks game plan.

Dan Bylsma wrote:It wasn't necessarily a lack of scoring chances or opportunities. We weren't able to solve the goaltender and we weren't able to score.

the sad thing is that i think he actually believes this.

The sad thing is how many people believe this along with him.

Yup, it's like Blysma is saying we got beaten by bad luck. Sure we had plenty of opportunities ...to rip the puck at Rask from above the circles, into a crowd of waiting Bruins with not a Pen in sight.

What does it to take to score? I hope he watched the finals and picked up a few pointers from the Hawks game plan.

What does it take to score? How about a plan that doesn't include a stretch pass? How about getting someone in the dirty areas in front of the goal? Not going 1 on 3 into the offensive zone?

I could go on, but we have to hope that:1) He really does "get it" or2) He gets replaced with someone who can actually coach this team

Still got to get under the cap, article in the Post said Nisky is on his way out and he is aware of it. I was wondering what people might think his value would be? A right handed shooting offensive D man could be a need on some team. Not sure if we could get a 4th rounder for him. Maybe a minor league guy or a 4th liner.

I'd say Niskanen is worth a 2nd rounder. Ideally, we could get a forward prospect that's knocking on the door to earn some bottom 6 time in the NHL. I'd love to get a big young guy like Quinton Howden (FLA), Etem (Ana) or Bulmer (Min). But not sure if that's a stretch:

An established 4/5 dman for a projected top 9 forward with < 20 games.